How Fast-Growth Companies Refuse to Lose

The most successful businesses not only build quality into their products, but also tap their customers for help.

In the classic comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a man, played by Steve Martin, is at the end of his rope after enduring excruciatingly cheerful but uncooperative service at a carrental agency. His flight has been diverted. His train has broken down in a field. And now, unable to contain himself any longer, he informs the agent behind the counter that he needs "a f*cking car, right f*cking now!"

We've all been there, and one of the culprits, other than poor execution itself, can be rapid growth. Some companies expand so quickly that they outrun their customer service capabilities. When startups take off, it is all too often the customer who is left in the wake.

This is the downside of the kind of success it takes to make the Inc. 5000. But if fast-growing companies had their priorities straight, confrontations like these would never happen.

First of all, the problems that cause customers to need help-poorly manufactured products, inconsistent service delivery-would have been nipped in the bud before they became the customers' problems. Second, service reps would have been trained to treat customers like gold, because that can mean the difference between having customers who stand by you and having customers who scream obscenities about you into the World Wide Web.

So let's focus on how to deal with f*ckups and how to prevent your high-revving engine of a firm from blowing a gasket because you've promised customers more than you can deliver.

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